Softball wins two NESCAC games

After earning a 7-3 mark in Florida, the Middlebury softball team (9-3, 2-0) returned to the northeast for a pair of NESCAC West games against Wesleyan (6-8, 0-2) March 29 at Hand High School.

The Panthers edged the Cardinals 4-3 in game one, before taking the nightcap by a 6-1 score. The games were played at Hand High School in Madison, Connecticut. Weather postponed Saturday’s game, which will be made up at a later date. Middlebury hopes to return to action on Wednesday at Castleton State.

In the opener, Middlebury trailed for five innings after the Cardinals manufactured a run in the first with a leadoff walk to Izzy Linzer, a sacrifice by Mollie Grunat, a passed ball and then a wild pitch. Wesleyan pitcher Su Pardo kept the Panthers off the board until a pair of doubles in the sixth, one a blast by Kat Maehr to the fence in left center, and the other a blooper to left center by Kelsey Martel that fell between the Cardinal outfielders, tied the count at 1-1.

Middlebury grabbed a 4-1 lead in the top of the seventh, using three hits and a wild pitch to score three runs. The big blow in the inning was a two-run triple to left center by Carlyn Vachow with two outs that proved to be the winning hit.

Wesleyan got a pair back in the seventh and left the tying run at second base. Linzer singled and Pardo slammed a double, followed by a two-run single by Jill Gately. But after fouling off seven-straight pitches with an 0-2 count, Jamie Hom was induced into a groundout by reliever Neve Stearns for the final out and her first save of the year. Allison Quigley started the game and went 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and just one earned run with six strikeouts.

Jackie Stern went 3-3 in the game, Siobhan O’Sullivan was 2-4, while Maehr went 2-4 with a double.

In the nightcap, the Cardinals again carried a first-inning, 1-0 lead into the latter stages of the game. The run came off Stearns, who started the contest, via a Grunat single, a Pardo double and a sacrifice fly by Gately.

This time the lead held up until the fifth when Middlebury struck for four runs with four hits and an error. The tying run scored off a sacrifice fly by Taylor Gardner. With runners on second and third, Hye-Jin Kim lined a single into right field, to drive in a pair. When the ball got by the Cardinal outfielder, Kim circled the bases.

The Panthers added two more in the sixth as Quigley helped her own cause, as she entered the game to pitch in the third inning, with an RBI triple and scored on a groundout. Quigley tossed five shutout innings, allowing five hits with four strikeouts as she posted both wins from the circle. She is now 6-1 on the year.

Kim went 2-4 with two RBI in game two, Vachow was 2-4 with a triple, while Martel finished 2-3.

For the twinbill, Pardo went 4-7 for Wesleyan and Gately drove in three runs.